Yarn carrier for full-fashioned knitting machines



March 13, 1956 G. BITZER 2,737,794

YARN CARRIER FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 4, 1954 INVENTOR.

G'oli'lob Bifi er Y dIZ/Q/Zn,

ATTORNEY.

United. States Patent YARN CARRIER FOR FULL -FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Gottlob Bitzer, Lincoln Park,

Machine Works, Pennsylvania Pa., assiguor to Textile Wyomissing, Pa, a corporation of This invention relates 2130 reciprocating yarn carriers and particularly to yarn carriers for feeding yarns to the loop forming elements of full-fashioned and other straight knitting mac'hines.

In the present multi-section machines for knitting fullfashioned stockings, a plurality of carrier rods or bars are employed each of which supports a yarn carrier for feeding or delivering yarn to the knitting elements of each of the sections of the machine. The lower or delivery ends of the yarn carriers are bent at various angles to bring them into substantially the same plane between the sinkerhead cap and the needles of the machine. The yarn carriers for each section are divided into groups located at opposite ends of the section, the carriers in each group overlying each other and operating at fixed levels spaced from the sinker-head cap. In the usual practice certain of the yarn carriers, which are designated main carriers, are adapted to be reciprocated across the full width of the sections. The other carriers, which are designated reinforcing carriers, are normally only reciprocated through short distances adjacent the side of the section in which they are grouped.

The main yarn carriers are reciprocated between end stops and the reinforcing yarn carriers between end and center stops in a usual manner to feed yarns to the knitting elements of the various sections to be knitted into fabrics. In order to reduce the impact of the carrier rods on the stops, and also to reduce the driving power required to overcome the inertia of the carrier rods and associated yarn carriers, it has previously been proposed to employed a relatively light weight carrier finger in place of the heavy thick metal fingers conventionally used. For this purpose the carriers have been constructed of thin gauge sheet metal with a central strengthening rib extending along the length of the carrier to the bend near the lower or delivery end to prevent undue flexing of the carrier.

In feeding the yarn to the knitting elements, the yarns travel from the supply and through the usual tensioning devices to the yarn carriers. The yarn for each carrier passes along the carrier finger to the delivery end thereof, the yarn normally contacting the surface of the carrier at the bend between the upper portion and delivery end. Where synthetic yarns such as nylon are used, the continuous rubbing of the yarn over the carrier surface scores the surface and in a short time, particularly when a light weight material is used for the carrier finger, cuts entirely through the material causing damage to the yarn and necessitating replacement of the finger. In order to prevent damage, the conventional relatively heavy weight yarn carriers were provided with hardened .wire members to hold the yarn away from the surface at the bend of the carrier adjacent the delivery end. These members were replaceably attached to the relatively thick metal by bending the end portions of the wire at substantially right angles to a yarn contacting center portion and inserting the end portions in apertures in the carrier finger. Due to the thickness of the finger, the end portions of the wire members could be made of sufiicient length to provide a resilient contact with the walls of the apertures without extending beyond the under surface of the carrier and interfering with yarns of adjacent carriers. However, in the light weight carriers the thinness of the material of the finger made this impossible.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a light weight yarn carrier with a replaceable member for holding the yarn out of contact with the surface of the carrier and which is attached to the carrier in a manner to permit ready removal of the member from the carrier and which will not interfere with the yarns of adjacent carriers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a light weight yarn carrier with a replaceable wire member for holding the yarn out of contact with the surface of the carrier and which resiliently engages the carrier in 21mmher to maintain the wire member in position on the carrier and to permit ready removal of the member from the carrier.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, the invention resides in the novel elements, features of construction and cooperation of parts, as hereinafter more praticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective of a yarn carrier according to the invention together with a portion of the rod on which the carrier is mounted and a portion of the knitting mechanism associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side view of an enlarged scale of the lower end portion of the yarn carrier as seen from the right of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a vitw of a portion of a yarn carrier having a yarn guard member according to the invention looking in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 2 and shown on an enlarged scale relative to Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but looking in the direction of the arrow B in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view of the yarn guard member as it appears when removed from the yarn carrier; and

Fig. 6 is a .side elevation of the guard member as viewed from the right of Fig. 5.

The yarn carrier of the instant invention, which is one of a plurality of such yarn carriers on a full-fashioned knitting machine for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of the machine, comprises a finger of thin resilient sheet metal having one end of a long main portion attached to a plate member which in turn is attached to a reciprocable yarn carrier rod. A short delivery end of the finger is bent at an angle to the main portion and has a mounting which replaceably carries a guide tube through which the yarn passes to the loop forming elements. The long main portion of the finger has a rib formed therein to resist longitudinal and transverse bending strains in the finger.

Also the yarn carrier within the invention is provided with a replaceable wire member having a portion extending transversely to the path of the yarn. The transverse portion is positioned substantially at the juncture of the main and delivery end portions of the finger to hold the yarn out of engagement with the surface of the finger. The wire member is maintained in predetermined position on the finger .by forming the wire member to resiliently engage the side edges and opposite transverse surfaces of the finger.

Referring now to the drawings, in Fig. 1 there is shown certain of the loop forming elements of a full-fashioned knitting machine including needles 10, sinkers 11 and dividers 12. The sinkers 11 and dividers 12 are mounted for sliding movement in slots in a bed portion and a cap portion 16 of a sinker-head 17. Yarn is fed to the needles 10, sinkers 11 and dividers 12 by yarn carriers one of which is shown at 20. The lower or delivery ends 21 of the carriers are positioned for reciprocation between the front face of the cap portion 16 and the needles 10. The needles 10, sinkers 11 and dividers 12 are operated by the usual mechanism (not shown) to form yarn laid by the yarn carrier 20 into fabric in a usual manner.

The yarn carrier 20 is formed of a light weight sheet metal and is of the type having a guide tube 22 carried in a turret rotatable in the end 21 of the carrier. The tube 22 is removably mounted in the turret 25 in contact with the upper face of the carrier. An upper or main portion 24 of the carrier 20 extends at an angle to the end 21 (Figs. 1 and 2) and is secured to a plate member 27 by screws 39. The plate member 27 is secured to a carrier rod 31 by screws 32, there being a plurality of such rods and a yarn carrier 20 on each of the rods for each knitting section of the usual full-fashioned knitting machine. In order to stiffen the yarn carrier 24) against longitudinal and transverse bending strains, the upper portion is provided with a central rib 26 (Figs. 1 and 3). Further details of construction and operation of the above described features of yarn carrier 20 may be had by reference to U. S. Patent No. 2,656,693 issued to C. G. Newton, October 27, 1953.

As hereinbefore set forth, conventionally the delivery end 21 of the carrier is bent at an angle relative to the upper or main portion 24, the degree of bend being determined by the position of the delivery end with respect to the cap portion 16 of the sinker-head 17 and the carrier rod 31 to which the particular yarn carrier is secured. A yarn 41 extending between a usual supply (not shown) and the delivery end of the tube 22, passes through an eyelet 42 in the plate 27, through eyelets 45 in a plate 46, also secured to the plate 27 by the screws 30, along the upper surface of the carrier at the bend between the lower end 21 and the upper portion 24 of the carrier and into the upper end of the tube 22. It has been found that when the yarn is permitted to contact the surface of the yarn carrier, it soon scores such surface and in a very short time cuts entirely through the thin metal of the carrier. Under these conditions the carrier becomes worthless and must be replaced although the remainder of the carrier is undamaged.

To prevent this damage, the instant invention provides replaceable bridge means of a novel type to hold the yarn out of contact with the surface of the carrier at the bend. As shown particularly in Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, the means provided for this purpose is a substantially U- shaped member 47 made of resilient wear-resistant wire material. The member 47 has a straight portion 50 connecting leg portions 51 each of which is provided with a return bend 52 and return portion or extension 55. The carrier finger is provided with oppositely positioned notches 56 in its side edges, the notches being located above the bend between the lower and upper portions of the finger. The member 47 is attached to the yarn carrier with the straight portion 50 lying transversely to the path of the yarn substantially at the bend in the carrier 20 (Fig. 2) by inserting the return bend portions 52 in the notches 56 at the opposite side edges of the carrier (Figs. 3 and 4). The legs 51 are spaced from each other so as to resiliently maintain the return bend portions 52 in the notches 56 and the legs are bent relative to the extensions 55, as viewed in Fig. 6 to cause the legs and extensions to resiliently engage the opposite transverse surfaces of the carrier, as shown in Fig. 2. As will be observed, due to the resiliency of the wire of which the bridge members are composed and the shape of the members they may be easily removed and replaced when worn by bending the leg portions outwardly against the resiliency of the material and slipping the member off or on the carrier finger as the case may be.

It will be understood that the improvements specifically shown and described by which the above described results are obtained can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a straight knitting machine comprising a finger having a main portion and a delivery end portion bent at an angle to said main portion, and a substantially U- shaped member having a portion extending transversely of the finger substantially at the juncture of the main and delivery end portions of the finger for preventing engagement of the yarn with the surface of said finger, and having portions resiliently engaging the side edges of said finger.

2. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a straight knitting machine comprising, a finger having a main portion and a delivery end portion bent at an angle to said main portion, and a substantially U-shaped wire member having a portion extending transversely of the finger substantially at the point of juncture between the main and delivery end portions of the finger for preventing engagement of the yarn with the surface of said finger, and having leg portions for resiliently engaging the side edges of said finger.

3. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a full-fashioned knitting machine comprising, a finger having a main portion and a delivery end portion bent at an angle to said main portion, and a member for holding the yarn out of engagement with the main portion of the finger in its passage to said delivery end portion, said member having a portion extending transversely of the path of the yarn, and leg portions extending from said transverse portion and adapted to resiliently embrace the side edges of the main portion of said finger.

4. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a full-fashioned knitting machine comprising, a finger having a main portion and a delivery end portion bent at an angle to said main portion, notches in the side edges of said main portion, and a wire member for holding the yarn out of engagement with the main portion of the finger in its passage to said delivery end portion, said member having a portion extending transversely of the path of the yarn, and leg portions extending from said transverse portion and adapted to resiliently engage in said notches.

5. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a straight knitting machine, comprising a finger having a main portion and a delivery end portion bent at an angle to said main portion, notches in the side edges of said main portion, and a wire member for holding the yarn out of engagement with the upper surface of the finger along which the yarn passes to said delivery end portion, said member having a portion extending transversely of the path of movement of the yarn, leg portions extending from the transverse portion and adapted to engage the upper surface of said main portion, a return portion associated with each leg portion and formed to resiliently engage the under surface of the main portion of the finger, and a return bend connecting each of said leg and return portions, said return bends resiliently and releasably engaging in said notches to maintain said transverse portion of said member in predetermined position relative to said main and delivery end portions of said finger.

6. A bridge member for use with a yarn carrier finger of a straight knitting machine for supporting yarn passing along said carrier finger above the surface thereof, comprising a wire member having a straight portion, leg portions extending from said straight portion, a return portion associated with each leg portion and a return bend connecting each of said leg and return portions, said leg portions being formed to resiliently engage the return bends with opposite side edges of said yarn carrier finger and the leg and associated return portions being formed relative to each other to cave said leg and return portions to resiliently engage opposite transverse surfaces of said finger.

7. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a straight knitting machine comprising a finger and a bridge member having a portion extending transversely of said finger for supporting yarn above a face thereof, said bridge member including leg portions extending from said yarn supporting portion to form a substantially U-shaped element therewith overlying said face of said finger, means associated with each of said leg portions and underlying the opposite face of the said finger and means connecting each leg portion to its said associated means.

8. A yarn carrier for feeding yarn to the loop forming elements of a straight knitting machine comprising a flat finger having edge notches therein and a bridge member having a portion extending transversely of said finger for supporting yarn above a face thereof, said bridge member including leg portions extending from said yarn supporting portion to form a substantially U-shaped element therewith overlying said face of the finger, means associated with each of said leg portions and underlying the opposite face of the finger and means lying within said notches connecting each leg portion to its associated means.

9. A bridge member for use with a yarn carrier finger of a straight knitting machine for supporting yarn passing along said carrier finger above the face of the finger, said bridge member comprising a yarn supporting portion, leg portions extending from said yarn supporting portion to provide a substantially U-shaped element adapted to overlie said face of the finger and extensions associated with each of said leg portions and adapted to underlie the opposite face of the finger and means conmeeting each leg portion to its associated extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,570,388 Kaul Oct. 9, 1951 

